The Men Who Tread On the Tiger''s Tail (虎の尾を踏む男達 Tora no
o wo fumu otokotachi?, aka They Who Step on the Tiger''s
Tail) is a 1945 Japanese period drama film, written and
directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is based on the kabuki
play Kanjinchō, which is in turn based on the Noh play
Ataka.

The film stars Hanshiro Iwai, Susumu Fujita, Kenichi
Enomoto, and Denjirō Ōkōchi.
The film was initially banned by the occupying Supreme
Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) due to its
portrayal of feudal values. It was later released after
the signing of the Treaty of San Francisco in 1952.

The film begins with a shot of the landscape, after
which it zooms in on a group of foot travelers and a
porter. After walking for a while, they sit to rest,
where the porter finds that this is Minamoto no
Yoshitsune, Benkei, and his advisors. Their job is to
cross a border checkpoint without being found, so they
disguise themselves as monks.